New Pixel Phones Include 60 GHz Radios

The FCC today approved four new Google Pixel phones, two of which seem US-bound, both of which include short-range 60 GHz radios, commonly used for the technology known as WiGig, Wireless Display, or 802.11ad. WiGig is fast enough to send 4K video or real-time VR wirelessly. The high frequency and low power of WiGig limit it to very short-range applications, typically within the same room. However 60 GHz radios could also be used for RADAR, and Google has put out its own teaser for the Pixel 4 revealing that the phones will have face unlock and support mid-air hand gestures, both features which could potentially leverage RADAR hardware running at 60 GHz. The phones are presumably the forthcoming Pixel 4 series, although FCC documents made public today reveal little else of note about the "G020I" and "G020J". As with previous Pixel phones, they include support for all frequency bands used by US LTE networks, including newer bands like 14, 30, 66, and 71.